Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Birthday Salute and Quintessential Solo #5 | Martin Taylor OBE

Born 20th October 1956 in Essex, England, Martin Taylor was a child prodigy who was gigging professionally as a jazz guitarist by the time he was 12.

In 1979 at age 23, Taylor had landed a dream gig with jazz violin legend Stephane Grappelli. Grapelli was co-leader of Le Quintet du Hot Club de France in the 30's and 40's with none other than Django Reinhardt.

Playing with Grappelli exposed Taylor to an international audience as they played every major jazz festival around the world, helping to establish him as an artist in his own right.
In this vid Taylor pulls off a moving rendition of Hoagy Carmichael's Georgia On My Mind -- a quintessential solo in the truest sense.

Playing a Yamaha AEX1500 -- Taylor has been a Yamaha endorsee for several years now -- Taylor creates a very pianistic sound with his fingerstyle technique, tastefully reharmonizing the changes as they move along. (Notice, also, his pinky planted firmly on the pickguard -- something which he personally advises students not to do!)

In 2002, Martin Taylor was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for Services to Jazz Music -- the first jazz guitarist to receive the honor.

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